Four Corners Power Plant
County Rd 6675, Waterflow, NM 87421
This coal-fired power plant was originally comprised of five units: Units 1 and 2 constructed in 1963 (permanently closed,) Unit 3 in 1964 (permanently closed in 2014,) Unit 4 in 1969, and Unit 5 in 1970. Arizona Public Service (APS) owns the plant.
The plant is located wtihin the Navajo Indian Reservation near near Fruitland, NM and close to the New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah borders. The older 1, 2, and 3 Units were closed in 2014 due to the cost of retrofitting them to meet current environmental standards. Catalytic reduction equipment for more efficient emission controls will be installed on Units 4 and 5 by July of 2018. The closure of these units reduced capacity from 2,100 megawatts to 1,540. This still enables the plant to serve half a million homes.
Exposure information for power plants/steam plants:
Steam generated power plants in the 1950s through the 1970s commonly utilized asbestos containing pipe insulation and insulating cements on steam lines running throughout a plant. Steam was used to run turbines, which in turn generated electricity. Asbestos gaskets and rope packing were typically used in this era on steam flanges and steam powered equipment such as pumps, valves, turbines and boilers. Asbestos fireproofing was also commonly used on steel surfaces in power plants.